The field of the invention is sporting goods and the invention relates more particularly to devices used for improving the proficiency of one who plays the sport. While the drawings and discussion, herein, will center on the game of baseball and the swinging of a baseball bat, the concept of the present invention is useful for other sports such as golf or tennis.
Weighted bats have been used for many years, such bats being commonly used by a player who is about to enter the game as a hitter. For instance, in baseball, the batter waiting in the on-deck circle, commonly swings a weighted bat or several bats together so that the bat he will use in the game will feel lighter and quicker in his hands. The most common type of weight used in the on-deck circle is a doughnut-shaped weight which is slipped over the handle end of the bat and is restrained at its inner periphery by the widened portion of the bat.
While such weighted bat serves a useful purpose in loosening up the batter prior to hitting, it does not have any significant benefit in training the batter's hand-gripping action and there is, thus, a need for a device which provides training and practice in the gripping of a bat during a swing.